I really enjoyed this series. Blending fiction with true life history makes it feel realistic. The in-your-face and cold blooded violence is part of the reason but mainly because of the well written characters with meaningful names and use of wisdomic phrases throughout. Multiple story lines that takes us beyond bootlegging and pointing out insider trading and market fixing on Wall Street as well as corruption at every level, including congressmen.
My favorites were Stephen Graham's portrayal of Al Capone and Jack Huston as Richard Harrow. Both made me feel like they would be a loyal friend but never to be crossed. Nucky sorta felt that way as well but he could be reasoned with. Too many others to mention but I liked the singer Daughter Maitland and Chalky White.
Characters that seemed like the worst of humans ever allowed on the planet to me were Valentin Narcisse and Gyp Rosetti. Narcisse was the ultimate false prophet while Gyp was a perverted psychopath. Since a majority of the characters were some kind of criminal or a victim of the seemingly horrible time period and circumstance, no way to cover all of them. They evoke emotions that make you laugh, cry and shudder in disbelief.
I do agree with others on the chat boards who stated that season 5 and some of the ending story lines seemed rushed. The multiple flashbacks repeated a lot we already knew and muddied the time lines in places. I would have like to have seen a different and better ending for Chalky and Nucky, leaving Tommy Darmody as a surviving innocent. The writers thought that a combination of "like father, like son" and "vengeance is mine" was better.
For some reason, I felt like Eli's son Will deserved to be killed and not allowed a career where he could assist corruption if he saw fit. Gillian should have been executed after her conviction instead of the crazy house allowance of surgically extracted reproductive organs for "Brave New World" research. The novel written in 1931 by Aldous Huxley and published in 1932 made those sanitarium scenes jump out at me. So I have to credit the writers for that ending choice.
The writers also did a good job with their continuing eye for an eye and other biblical themes. All of the folks who got shot an inch below the eye, including Richard Harrow. His "harrowing" story of how he killed the sniper and the scar you could see at the left edge of his mask looked like the exit path of a bullet. I rated it 9.5 of 10 and rounded up.
My favorites were Stephen Graham's portrayal of Al Capone and Jack Huston as Richard Harrow. Both made me feel like they would be a loyal friend but never to be crossed. Nucky sorta felt that way as well but he could be reasoned with. Too many others to mention but I liked the singer Daughter Maitland and Chalky White.
Characters that seemed like the worst of humans ever allowed on the planet to me were Valentin Narcisse and Gyp Rosetti. Narcisse was the ultimate false prophet while Gyp was a perverted psychopath. Since a majority of the characters were some kind of criminal or a victim of the seemingly horrible time period and circumstance, no way to cover all of them. They evoke emotions that make you laugh, cry and shudder in disbelief.
I do agree with others on the chat boards who stated that season 5 and some of the ending story lines seemed rushed. The multiple flashbacks repeated a lot we already knew and muddied the time lines in places. I would have like to have seen a different and better ending for Chalky and Nucky, leaving Tommy Darmody as a surviving innocent. The writers thought that a combination of "like father, like son" and "vengeance is mine" was better.
For some reason, I felt like Eli's son Will deserved to be killed and not allowed a career where he could assist corruption if he saw fit. Gillian should have been executed after her conviction instead of the crazy house allowance of surgically extracted reproductive organs for "Brave New World" research. The novel written in 1931 by Aldous Huxley and published in 1932 made those sanitarium scenes jump out at me. So I have to credit the writers for that ending choice.
The writers also did a good job with their continuing eye for an eye and other biblical themes. All of the folks who got shot an inch below the eye, including Richard Harrow. His "harrowing" story of how he killed the sniper and the scar you could see at the left edge of his mask looked like the exit path of a bullet. I rated it 9.5 of 10 and rounded up.